A blog devoted to current, former, and future USHL players, along with current league happenings.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Ohio Jumps in on the Fun

Soo Greyhounds rookie forward, Anthony Perdicaro, has been added by the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets. The East Rockaway, New York native scored 4 points (1-3--4) in 37 games for the Greyhounds.

"We felt it was only fair to explain Anthony’s position with the Greyhounds to him and his advisors and, with the January 10th deadline upon us, they had to choose whether Anthony was going to move or stay here and attempt to work his way back into our top twelve forwards.

In my opinion, and only that, I feel its a drop down this year. Not becasue the O is strong this season, but because I feel the USHL is having a down year. I just don't see the likes of a Kyle Okposo, a Trevor Lewis, or an Andreas Nodl, the list goes on. Aside from top end individuals, I don't see a very crisp level of team play as I did last year. It seems like the overall level of play is a little sloppier this year, but thats just me.

Seriously, how many USHLers played in th World JR Championships this year? 0/Zero, and by my estimation at least 12 played from the OHL. And at least a few more had a legitimate chance of making either USA or Canada, i.e. Bobby Ryan and Bobby Sanguinetti. Be real people, the USHL is a great league, it isn'the OHL.

having seen between 25 and 30 OHL games in the last 3 years and over 100 USHL games in the last 2 years, and many more on tape, I can say with confidence that USHL goalies and defensemen would be very successful in the OHL. The OHL has MUCH better top line forwards (Bobby Ryan, et. al.) but second line down is a wash between the 2 leagues.

With that said, the WHL and QMJHL are pretty strong this year, compared to the OHL.

Ex-Major Junior players aren't putting up exceptionally better numbers in the USHL than they were in MJ, with the possible exception of Ben van Lare (who may have developed into the player he is now anyways).

As for the comment above me -- 10 or fewer players? That's hardly a top sampling. Some of these kids (Eric Phligler, Sean Courtney) have put up worse numbers in the USHL than the OHL. Others are a wash (Fletcher, Milhouse (WHL)). Some get better, which may be the course of natural development (Van Lare)

I am a huge proponent of the US system. But lets be honest here, the OHL is a better league than the USHL. The question is how much better?If its not a overly huge leap, why would you ever sacrifice a scholarship to play in the O?To give credit to the OHL, the Canadians have methodically analyzed how they can make things better every day for decades. Whether that be on ice product, officiating, the drafting process or marketing, they present well.I think the USHL could learn a thing or two from the OHL. Having said that, the gap between the two leagues is getting closer.

Two points to address the common question of why players choose the CHL over the USHL. First, believe it or not, it is not every kids dream to play college hockey. Second, CHL teams pay for all player education during the players time in the organization and their contracts contain a scholarship/education package for post playing days. Therefore, a player could have as much as 3 years of school done prior to ageing out of Jrs. and still use their school package to finish their degress.. Many players don't complete that much school while playing, however neither do many NCAA players that leave school early.

What is the minimum number of games that a player needs to play each season to qualify for the "education package"?My understanding is that if you do not reach the minimum, you receive nothing. For example, lets say you play 4 games and subsequently get cut you are done.Can anyone clarify?

The qualifiers for the scholarship package is different for each of the 3 leagues in the CHL. I think (but I'm not sure) that it's not only games played, but being rostered for a certain amount of time as well.

In response to iowaninja, you are correct that college players did play in the wjc. But, like so many that debate the USHL and the OHL, you interject current college players into a discussion about the USHL. The discussion is about junior players and the leagues they play in not about NCAA players. Education packages in the CHL vary based on what each player has negotiated. Some are guaranteed 4 years some are given 1 yr. for each year played and some are somewhere in between, similar to NCAA scholarships. Many of these college committments are for much less than full rides. And according to the booklet from NCAA Clearinghouse "ALL" athletic scholarships are year to year.

Yes no USHL players played, but Justin Abdelkader, Kyle Okposo the the likes would still be playing in but they are at the point where college was a jump they were ready to make. While the Major Junior players either play out their junior careers or play professional. Hence the reason no current USHL players played but current OHL players did.

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